<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>With Blood And Rum, I Won't Go Dry by fishstixx</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25927351">With Blood And Rum, I Won't Go Dry</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishstixx/pseuds/fishstixx'>fishstixx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(adopted), 1920s, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Angst, Arson, Drinking, Gang Violence, Gun Violence, I do it for the girls and the gays thats it, M/M, No Period-Typical Homophobia, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Rivalry, Slow Burn, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Violence, an AU of my own creation, and i’m gay, avatar but they're all rumrunners, rivalries ensue, there’s plenty of angst without it, toph and zuko work as bootleggers and are constantly blowing up the gaang's stills, toph wears a suit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:34:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,446</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25927351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishstixx/pseuds/fishstixx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"He still yearned for their buggy, which they’d left behind at the top of the hill for this. Creeping through the woods like convicts for petty revenge and the element of surprise.</p><p>And maybe they were convicts, but that didn’t mean they had to act like it."</p><p>-</p><p>More than once the gaang found their consignments overturned, their stills on fire and a guard or two dead. The Blind Bandit and the Blue Spirit were the banes of their business- prowling out of the darkness just when eyes turned away to either make off with their cargo or destroy it.</p><p>Frustrating as hell, but Sokka had to admit that they were good at it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong &amp; Zuko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fantastic A:TLA Fanfics!</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Squeaker</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If it were up to Zuko, this was <em> not </em> how he would be spending his Sunday.</p><p>Toph weaved through the undergrowth with a near-expert precision, the wooded region only hindering her slightly. She was mostly protected from the pull of thorns by her clothes.</p><p>Zuko was not so lucky.</p><p>Every branch Toph pushed out of the way just came back to smack him in the face, tearing at his exposed neck or stabbing at his shoulders through his clothes. Maybe Toph had the right idea with shoulder pads, but wearing a suit for what was supposed to be a sneaky little excursion through the woods had not seemed like the best idea at the time. Now he was jealous of her brimmed hat and popped collar.</p><p>He still yearned for their buggy, which they’d left behind at the top of the hill for <em> this</em>. Creeping through the woods like convicts for petty revenge and the element of surprise.</p><p>Maybe they were convicts, but that didn’t mean they had to <em> act </em> like it.</p><p>“There,” Toph hissed, throwing her arm out to stop Zuko. It wasn’t needed, though, as the moment before he reached her he’d walked straight into a spider web.</p><p>”-There’s a collapsed barbed wire fence right in front of us, then it’s open farmland up until we reach the barn. That’s where the still is.” Toph continued on, paying no mind to a squeaking Zuko flailing his hands at his face in an attempt to escape from the invisible strands.</p><p>And then Zuko was getting a cumbersome glass jug shoved into his arms. <em> Great</em>. Toph’s ability to easily carry two of the jugs, one in each hand, was not matched by Zuko. He wrapped both arms around the thing and stumbled backwards. </p><p>Zuko preferred the <em> real </em> action, the tommy guns and the infiltrating and the squealing of tires as they fled. Not tripping over barbed wire with beggar’s lice spotting his clothes and scratches on his face following a fight with nature that he had managed to lose.</p><p>Oh well. Once they were on flat land it was easy going. The few sheep that had been lazily grazing spooked at the trespassers and scattered, probably to go get stuck in brambles and bleat and do whatever else it is that sheep do.</p><p>Toph slunk around to the far side of the building they came upon after shooting Zuko a confirmation that <em> yes, this was their target</em>. He popped the cork on his jug and turned his head away, the smell from inside the lid hitting him hard and not at all pleasantly.</p><p>The smell of alcohol burned the back of his throat. Zuko could guess from the scent alone that this was on par with woodgrain, something that wasn’t really made for drinking so much as burning and that would probably leave him out cold from alcohol poisoning if he even thought about taking a sip. Instead he just overturned the jug and went about dousing the building.</p><p>He dropped the glass when he finished, darting back outside and away from the now very combustible wooden shack. He thought he’d made quick work of his job, but of course Toph was already outside leaned against a bale of hay.</p><p>“You do the honors, Sparky.”</p><p>She tossed Zuko a match, which he struck to the heel of his boot and tossed to the wind. All was still for a few moments.</p><p>Then the place went up.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em> “The still’s on fire!” </em>
</p><p>Zuko only vaguely registered the shout. He was peeling back through the woods after Toph, the adrenaline keeping him from thinking too much about nature’s assault this time. </p><p>In and out, no problem. Destroy a rival still tonight, drink about it ‘till the sun came up. At least, that had been the plan.</p><p>The rumble ahead of him told Zuko that things weren’t exactly going to plan.</p><p>He broke back through the tree line- out of the woods literally, but not figuratively. Ahead of him a guy skidded to a halt, aiming at them a boomerang that glinted in the moonlight. Toph stomped before he got the chance to throw it, sending the unfortunate soul into the air and crashing back against a tree. Zuko couldn’t help but wince. Being down a still and likely a few ribs wasn’t a pretty affair.</p><p>Toph just grabbed his hand and tugged him along. “Come on, let’s go!”</p><p>No argument for that. He was at a dead sprint for their vehicle, tearing open the driver’s side door once he was close enough. Toph scrambled in next to him, both panting and heaving.</p><p>“Surprise.”</p><p>The unfamiliar voice from behind him pulled a very loud and not at <em> all </em> high-pitched scream from Zuko. Unable and unwilling to blast the interior of his buggy with flames, the figure raised a blade to strike. They nearly got Zuko, too, but the punch he threw distracted them enough to give Toph enough time to get back out and rip them out of their car.</p><p>The painted figure was unceremoniously thrown to the ground, Toph leaping into the spot they had vacated right as Zuko floored it.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Even after Toph had got all the doors shut (two too many open for Zuko to comfortably drive with) and slumped into the shotgun seat, Zuko was still panting. He earned a painful punch to the arm and a laugh from Toph as things began to settle down.</p><p>“Maybe I should call you Squeaker instead of Sparky, with the way you yelled-“</p><p>“Shut up!” Zuko yelled, swerving the car so Toph couldn’t help but get thrown against the door. His face heated up. “Watch the back window, they might be tailing us.”</p><p>“I won’t be watching anything, Squeaker.” Toph waved in front of her face and Zuko groaned. All his attention really should be on the road, seeing as his depth perception was less than stellar, but now he was keeping one eye (<em>one eye that he couldn’t spare</em>) open for tailers too. His gaze constantly flicked between the rear view mirror and the road ahead.</p><p>One long, unnecessarily twisting trip back to their speakeasy later- and with only one near-crash, in the parking lot of all places- and Zuko and Toph were sat up at the bar getting shot glasses slid over to each of them.</p><p>“Congratulations, boys.” The bartender- some musclehead who Zuko didn’t recognize and would probably be replaced by next week- nodded to them. Toph just huffed and glowered slightly to his left, which got the brute to drop his gaze.</p><p>Zuko and Toph raised their glasses in unison, clinking them together and tipping their heads back at the same time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cracked ribs are the least of his problems.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Some little, desperate part of Sokka had hoped that the others had managed to put out the fire while he ran to cut off their assailants. Deep down he knew it was futile- he’d only stared for a few seconds but even then he could see that the whole building had gone up with a roar, walls beginning to buckle and collapse in on itself as the flames devoured it from the inside out.</p>
<p>The darkness concealed the faces of the two figures, but Sokka knew his main rivals when he saw them. A flicker of shadow against the underbrush, the movement of someone cloaked in all black; a short, suited figure with a hat pulled down over their eyes. That was all Sokka got to see before a cylindrical pillar of grit and stone was slamming into him.</p>
<p>The attack sent Sokka flying. He didn’t end up getting thrown as far as he thought he would, however, thanks to the tree he collided with. The bark scraped painfully against his back, his late-night state of undress leaving his torso protected only by a shirt and suspenders.</p>
<p>Sokka tried to get up, his only thought being to <em> protect,</em> <em>defend</em>. His bones cracked in protest and pain flared up from all sides. Forced to slide back down to the ground, head lolling to the side, he sat in a winded daze.</p>
<p>Every breath rattled in his chest and <em> hurt</em>.</p>
<p>Sokka didn’t know how long he had ended up sitting there motionless before Suki was getting thrown to the ground and left abandoned as tires squealed against the grit. She rolled to her hands and knees, coughing and spluttering as gravel sprayed her.</p>
<p>Again, Sokka tried in vain to get up and help her, to do <em> anything </em> other than watch his closest friend struggle. Suki seemed to beat him to that, though, and after she regained her composure Sokka felt himself being lifted to his feet.</p>
<p>“Thanks,” He wheezed, and in an effort to reassure her that he wasn’t about to keel over dead he shot her one of his lopsided grins. “Takes more than that to bring ol’ Sokka down.”</p>
<p>“You <em> were </em> brought down,” Suki pointed out, lip curling in a smile. “You couldn’t get up, I watched you.”</p>
<p>Her expression dropped to something more worried. “Got you good, huh?”</p>
<p>Sokka rubbed the back of his neck, trying to make his walk less of a drag. His legs were functioning fine, thankfully, but every movement sent shocks of pain straight to his chest. “Eh, I’m fine. Like I said, takes more than that!” He coughed into the crook of his elbow and shook himself out. “But, uh- the help is much appreciated.”</p>
<p>Suki just nodded again, not pushing Sokka to speak any more for the rest of the struggle down to the others. When Sokka looked up and saw the aftermath of the attack, his jaw dropped.</p>
<p>Katara either hadn’t been able to stop the flames, or thought the effort too futile. The building- if one could even call it that anymore- was still smoking, a hunk of black against the otherwise green pasture. A few boards were still burning and he watched, helpless to stop it.</p>
<p>So close to his home. A couple thousand feet westward and that fire would have ended their business for good. Sokka swallowed.</p>
<p>Aang’s head was hung as he stood next to Katara, who was making quiet attempts to console him up until Suki made the others aware of their return.</p>
<p>The last thing Sokka really remembers was Katara’s hand flying to her mouth.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t think he passed out.</p>
<p>Really, he doesn’t. But there was a gap in his memory between that last moment in the field and waking up in his bed that he couldn’t fill no matter how hard he tried.</p>
<p>He was pleased that he was now able to push himself up with substantially less pain, but it was still short-lived as almost immediately a hand was pushing him down again.</p>
<p>As he was on his stomach he had to twist around awkwardly to see who it was. Katara, washrag in hand, was looking at Sokka with her nose scrunched up. “Your back looked like it lost a fight to some sort of wild animal.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well, it was a tree my back lost to actually, so you can hush. You can’t expect me to win a fight with Mother Nature’s eldest child.”</p>
<p>Katara scoffed. Though she seemed unamused, Sokka could have recognized the amused glint of relief in her eyes from a mile away. “What happened to cause- all this?”</p>
<p>“Oh, you know. Hurled into the air by a rock pillar. Hit a tree, slid down it. The usual.”</p>
<p>“I cannot believe you thought you could stop those two from getting away.”</p>
<p>“Hey, me <em> and Suki</em>. She increased the chances about a hundred times.”</p>
<p>“A hundred times zero is still zero.” Katara retorted, and at Sokka’s resulting pout she lightly shoved his face. “You’re lucky the rock didn’t totally shatter your ribcage. Just cracked a few, low enough down that you shouldn’t have to worry about puncturing a lung.”</p>
<p>At Sokka’s recklessly excited expression, she barreled on. “-And <em> no</em>, that’s not an excuse to be moving around again. At least not until after some rest. If you take it easy and let me work on it at night it should be down to deep bruising in just a couple days.”</p>
<p>And hell, if that wasn’t the best thing Sokka had ever heard.</p>
<p>He was no stranger to injuries. A crashed bike there, a miscalculated jump there, this wasn’t his first fractured bone. When he was little, however, and Katara was just coming into her bending, he hadn’t had a capable healer to magic away his pain. When Sokka had hit that tree, a part of him had still expected to get placed under honorary house arrest for six weeks.</p>
<p>“Thanks Katara!” He chirped, and this time she didn’t make him lay back down.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>By the evening Sokka was bored. </p>
<p>In theory he had plenty to do, sat upright in his cramped little bed backed by pillows and with papers strewn onto the sheets around him. They were down a still, they had expectant customers, and without as much extra revenue from their little side job it would be hard to feed their sheep this year- nevermind themselves.</p>
<p>But the solution for that was easy. Cut come corners around the house so they could afford to keep their speakeasy open and operating without a hitch, set up another distillery and water down whatever shine they had for the week to make up for what was lost. The problem with that, though, was that if he wanted to plan the specifics he had to get into numbers.</p>
<p>His head still spun whenever he looked at the half-scrawled out list of expenses, so he pushed all the papers off the bed and slumped down with his arms crossed.</p>
<p>“Whatchya doing there? Sulking?”</p>
<p>Sokka startled slightly, not having heard Suki come in. He whined at her. “Look, I know you’re a master of stealth and all, but could you <em> please </em> knock?” </p>
<p>She chuckled and padded over to sit at the foot of the bed. “Sure thing, Sokka. Been planning?”</p>
<p>Sokka cast a downtrodden look to his papers, now on the floor. At least they were all in the same general area. “About that…”</p>
<p>Suki frowned but didn’t say anything, so Sokka continued. “If we keep letting them hit us, soon patrons will notice their whiskey is more water than alcohol. We have to find a way to keep our stills.”</p>
<p>Despite their humbling little shack and sheep farm, the gaang’s moonshine business had quickly grown to more of an empire. Be it talent or dumb luck, their first time brewing had been flawless. The best white lightning in the nation, from a couple of backwoods shepherds.</p>
<p>Naturally, one patron grew to five, and five to twenty, and twenty to most all of the city’s alcoholics looking to break the law. Their first still (<em>which was now reduced to ashes</em>, Sokka thought bitterly) had doubled as the actual speakeasy until eyes fixed on them.</p>
<p>They invested in a more formal place and from there kept growing. Now they were nestled comfortably in an underground ballroom, a cavern once upon a time. Sokka didn’t know how old the place was except that it had been forgotten about by everyone outside of Ba Sing Se’s ring of organized crime.</p>
<p>Places like that were expensive to keep up with, though. All the money from lavish patrons and big-streak entrepreneurs had to go right back into the business, leaving a posse of young adults living secluded on a sheep farm outside of the city surrounded by woods. Well and truly isolated, while simultaneously kings.</p>
<p>Just one problem; if they kept watering down their moonshine, people would start to turn to the competitor.</p>
<p>Maybe that’s why Sokka’s face lit up the way it did when Suki nodded in understanding and proposed that for once, they hit back.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>comments + kudos appreciated! two chapters in two days and the third’s written out! less action here than in chapter one but hopefully the exposition made up for it :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Bonds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The afternoon sunlight filtered in through the blinds of the quaint little tea shop, providing a pleasantly warm feeling that washed away the still-lingering pain from pinprick thorn scratches and the memories of the night before.</p><p>Zuko drew in a breath, then let it out. His shift at the Jasmine Dragon ended in just a few hours. Then, instead of retiring to his bed like a normal and functioning member of society, he would slip into his night shift at The Comet to risk his life delivering alcohol to the elite.</p><p>Those few hours didn’t last long enough.</p><p>Before he knew it he was locking up the shop for his uncle, the darkness of the night coming to sap away all his energy. The trudge down the alleyways was uneventful, and yet painfully long- all the walls made even the main path winding, and the fact that Zuko took the back roads and hidden alleys only drew it out more.</p><p>The busboy at the front door let him in without any questioning. He wasn’t exactly a hard to recognize figure. He strode past the tables, most all occupied with lavish patrons and their meals. None spared him a second glance.</p><p>Down the stairs, to the lower floor. People were rarely seated in the area but it was still prepared like Ozai was expecting patrons. Around a few corners and a half-wall, to a specific picture frame that didn’t look particularly out of place in the well-decorated building. Zuko cast a glance behind him before he pulled back the frame and knocked on the wood.</p><p>A panel slid open then quickly shut again. The person on the other side knew exactly who he was and never asked the code word unless Ozai was present. Luckily (or maybe unluckily, as after tonight it would be too late to bring up his victory), it seemed Zuko wouldn’t have to face his father.</p><p>Zuko rounded another corner- how downstairs managed to be so subtly winding, he would never know- and appeared in front of what seemed to be a simple lounge. Plush chairs, pillows, and bookshelves cozily tucked into a pleasant little corner. </p><p>The firebender heaved back one of the bookshelves. Behind it was a door, already open, guarded by a man who let him in without a word.</p><p>Inside the speakeasy was a huge room just as upscale as the rest of the restaurant. Zuko paid no mind to the patrons, all fabulously wealthy and drunk, and made a beeline straight to the back where the bar was.</p><p>Leaned against the bar was Azula, framed by the lighting’s soft glow which was only reflected by the wall of various bottles behind her. Ty Lee was beside her, pouring shots with a showman’s flare any time their little corner was approached. Mai was sitting cross-legged on a stool opposite from Azula, back rested against the marble countertops. She wasn’t looking at the other two, but Zuko could tell she was listening by the tilt of her head.</p><p>“Aww, if it isn’t little Zuzu, back from his mission into the mouth of the lion.” Azula purred, earning herself a glare as he plunked down in the seat next to Mai.</p><p>“Don’t call me that,” He grumbled. </p><p>Ty Lee twisted around to rest her elbows on the counter and grin at Zuko. “Oh, she’s just teasing in her own way. How’d last night go?”</p><p>“Without a hitch.” Zuko answers, and Mai catches his eye. Immediately he knew that his voice betrayed his pride and relief even with his attempt to keep a blank face. He had to reassure himself that she was the only one close enough with him to notice, the reminder that he always came second in poker and only ever to her familiar by now. “In and out. Nobody from our side got hurt.”</p><p>Azula narrowed her eyes at him, and he glowered right back. It was still for a moment before she waved flippantly and spoke. “‘From our side’? So somebody else got hurt, which means that you were seen, which means-“</p><p>“Enough,” Zuko growled, teeth baring like a dog’s. The back of his throat tasted like smoke. “It’s not like they’re blind, a building went up in flames just across the field from them. Hard to miss.”</p><p>Azula opened her mouth to retort before Ty Lee interrupted her with a cheery anecdote and alerted them to the fact that the last member of their procession was approaching with a huff and a toss of her black hair. “What’re you dorks all arguing about?”</p><p>“Hi Toph!” Ty Lee waved as Mai undercut her question. “We weren’t arguing. In fact, we were just about to go out. Waiting for you to join us.”</p><p>Zuko was in no room to disagree.</p><p>Soon he found himself in the back seat of one of their father’s cars, crammed in the middle between Toph- who had her feet propped up on the console- and Azula in all her snide glory.</p><p>“I called shotgun,” Toph complained, face twisted up in a disapproving look. “How come she gets the front?”</p><p>“Because I was already in the car, silly!” Ty Lee’s face popped up from around the headrest, grinning and happy and paying no mind to Toph’s disgruntled state. “You can’t call it if someone already has it.”</p><p>“Sounds like disrespect to the shotgun gods,” was Toph’s muttered response. Azula impatiently bounced her foot.</p><p>“Where exactly are we going?” She finally burst, straightening up and leaning forward more.</p><p>“To commit crimes.” Mai’s answer came flippant and not very explanatory and was accompanied by her shooting them all a glance through the rearview mirror. Ty Lee, as if on cue, produced the usual tools- gloves, face coverings, the like. Zuko took his Blue Spirit mask, and though he didn’t voice his complaints he was wondering if he would ever get just one night of genuine calm and rest.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The car spluttered and groaned as it rolled to a stop, the lights making their own metallic complaints before flickering off and all the doors opened. </p><p>Fun had been promised, so Zuko tried not to worry too much about what exactly might be planned.</p><p>The lot stalked off through the streets and back alleys, traveling at a silent lope like a pack of hunting wolves. Everybody was fixed on an unseen point ahead, moving in a neat line with Azula now in the lead.</p><p>Zuko’s job came when they all stopped, forming a semi-circle around a heavy metal door that was predictably locked. Breaking formation to slink up, he produced two pieces of metal from a pocket inside his shirt sleeve. The tools slid into the lock and after a brief bout of clicking around the internal workings, the door was creaking open.</p><p>Zuko waved them all inside, taking up the rear again and shutting the door behind them.</p><p>The place at first was predictably empty, cobwebs and dead crickets scattered across the floor. Everyone wordlessly picked their way down the entry hall. </p><p>Soon the building opened up. The ceiling stretched far above their heads, levels and levels of conveyors and machinery stretching up into the air. There wasn’t time to focus on that, though, as a set of footsteps were resounding down the way. Predictable, they were in the heart of the building now.</p><p>The line scampered across the hall like rats, sticking to the wall when able. Azula would raise her hand, they’d halt; wave and they’d move.</p><p>Finally they were right up on the doorway separating them from whoever was playing guard. Azula nodded to Mai, and in she slipped. From behind the door there was a choking sound before someone much heavier than Mai hit the ground. They all got waved in.</p><p>Mai was standing just to the right of the door, looking around the room as the others filtered in. Zuko pretended to care less than he did about having to step over a body to get where he needed to be.</p><p>The room seemed just as abandoned as the rest, save for handprints and smears interrupting the layer of dust coating the whole room. It looked to have been an office, a bookshelf and cabinet set pushed against a wall with a desk in the center.</p><p>Azula began rummaging through the desk. Ty Lee checked for loose bricks, and Zuko went straight for the cabinet set while Toph and Mai kept watch.</p><p>He popped open the cabinets, clearing out any worthwhile contents while Azula busied herself breaking into a locked drawer in the desk. Zuko didn’t find too much- earrings, a dusty bottle of scotch, a coin purse, that kind of thing. Still, he could pawn it all off for a fistful of cash.</p><p>Azula was still struggling at the desk when he finished, so he allowed himself to brush over the dusty covers of the book. One in particular caught his eye, and as he was shoving the thing into his bag Azula claimed her prize.</p><p>“Bingo.”</p><p>“Some… paper?” Mai sounded entirely unimpressed, looking over her shoulder at a scoffing Azula.</p><p>“No. These are corporate bonds. Not a whole lot, but enough to warrant at least one guard. As you saw. We can sell them off tomorrow night along with whatever Zuzu’s scrounged up.”</p><p>Ty Lee, following her unsuccessful venture for anything that might be more hidden, blinked. “And then what?”</p><p>“We split the money, of course.” Azula answered, stalking over to Zuko and looking through his winnings with a huff before stuffing them all into her bag. “Now let’s get out of here before we’re interrupted by a shift change.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>comments + kudos, as always, appreciated! starting with this chapter the word count will be getting progressively longer</p><p>let me know your thoughts! we know what team privilege is up to tonight, but what about the gaang hmmm i wonder</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Scapegoat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>tw for this one, implied serious injury. can be interpreted as death, the end of this chapter is where things start to get bad. stay safe!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nobody told Sokka that they had to <em> know </em> their competitors to be able to attack them.</p><p>It was kind of hard to hit a business that they didn’t really know anything about, their exposure being only a blue mask and a blind earthbender that nobody in all of Ba Sing Se recognized.</p><p>Damn it, Sokka had been outsmarted before he had even gotten in the game.</p><p>...Okay, no, he could work with this. He just needed to breathe and think. The only competition was from small hole-in-the-wall business with no real impact, and… well.</p><p>The Comet.</p><p>Sozin’s Comet was a restaurant in the upper ring that had reservations booked for the next moon. The front for an illegal, underground bar.</p><p><em>The</em> Comet was a highly exclusive, highly cutthroat ring of rumrunners and their patrons, mostly those too stuck-up to not care where they got their alcohol from. Turns out some people just don’t like buying whiskey from a ragtag posse of misfit sheep farmers.</p><p>The Comet was also the only real competition that hadn’t been scared away by the concept of a team of skilled benders wielding all elements bar earth and fire.</p><p>Sokka spent <em> hours </em> puzzling over this not-so-small hitch. It wasn’t until he had gotten a full twenty four hours of painstakingly boring rest that things began to get interesting.</p><p>He was sat up at their round kitchen table, practically drooling over the food that Katara had yet to set down in front of them. As plates were being passed around, Suki spoke. “Some of the girls back in town are gossiping. Apparently the Blue Spirit and the Blind Bandit stole some oil bonds out from under the owner’s nose.”</p><p>Sokka’s mind took a very brief detour from his underwhelming plate of rice and fruit to gawk at this new information. “Really? Where at? How many people were there?”</p><p>Suki chuckled. Even Aang looked interested in the news. “More than just the usual two. I thought it was weird, but the flappers downtown said it’s more or less common knowledge among the middle and upper rings. There’s five of them actually, it’s just that usually the Blind Bandit and the Blue Spirit pair off for the jobs that are more… well, I don’t know exactly why it’s only those two that have hit us. I can’t ask around much more without raising suspicion, but it seems like they might just be the workhorses.”</p><p>The gears were already turning in Sokka’s mind. Two rumrunners either expendable or skilled enough (Sokka had a creeping suspicion that it might somehow be both) to face the second most successful moonshine operation in the city head-on. If it were either a smaller business or a less intelligent mind behind the curtain, most likely all five would get sent out. Together, the whole group would be <em> more </em> safe, which was important with a limited number of staff. Separated, the three would be <em> totally </em> safe.</p><p>Sokka’s face paled with the dawning realization. The Blind Bandit and the Blue Spirit were doing the most dangerous work so that the rest of the group <em>wouldn’t</em> <em>have to</em>. Their competition was reserving their most powerful forces for when they were <em>really</em> needed.</p><p>If those two were the scapegoats, the employees that were expendable enough to send with only each other for backup, Sokka didn’t want to know just how much he should fear the rest of the clique.</p><p>“Guys,” Sokka said slowly, carefully. All eyes turned to him. “...I think we might be about to challenge The Comet.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>After explaining what must be a power disparity- it <em> had </em> to be, Sokka knew this type of business by now and how the ringleaders thought- the table was all a little less interested in their meal.</p><p>“Are we sure it’s the people working for Sozin’s Comet who are coming after us?” That was Katara, and as she spoke everyone turned to look at her. Realizing she managed to say something wrong, she leaned back. “...What?”</p><p>“<em>Sozin’s </em> Comet and <em> The </em> Comet are different.” Sokka snorted, leaning forward with one eyebrow raised. Aang nodded along, ready to chime in.</p><p>“Yeah, Sozin’s Comet is the restaurant. The Comet is the moonshine business. We know they’re run by the same people- or person, we aren’t sure- but they’re separate. We know where the restaurant is but not where their bar or any of the stills are.”</p><p>Sokka shot Aang a proud look. The latter preened.</p><p>“...Okay, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re not sure it’s them hitting us.” Katara pressed on. “What if there’s a rising competitor and nobody’s noticed? We can’t go picking fights with The Comet unless we really do need to in order to keep business. It’s too risky.”</p><p>“This whole thing is risky.” Sokka snatched a toothpick from the center of the table and leaned back in his chair. “It’s definitely them. Between theirs and our businesses, we have an oligopoly on the city’s alcohol distribution. Competition’s out before they even get started.”</p><p>“They have more resources,” Aang said, voice verging on a fret as the reality of the situation began to set in. Things were going to get nasty, it had to. “The Comet runs a higher profit than us. Everything we earn goes right back into keeping the place open, paying for better clothes so we can make an impression, network, and pretend to be higher rollers than we really are. They can afford to replace anything we destroy.”</p><p>“The Blue Spirit and The Blind Bandit regularly cut off our supply lines, popping out of nowhere to shoot our drivers and make off with our cargo.” Suki chimed in, having been quiet while she ate. Now that her plate was clean she folded her hands together and angled herself more forward. “We need to get better at defending it, keeping what’s ours. From there we can start to sniff out their stills. Regardless of if they can afford to fix everything or not, they’ll be short on what they need for a period of time that drunks just aren’t willing to wait for. Then we can scoop up their less loyal patrons and bam, we’re making money again.”</p><p>“Suki, I love you.” </p><p>She nodded and smiled softly at Sokka’s praise, straightening up. “Yeah, well-“</p><p>Their little moment was interrupted by the clatter of dishes, Aang taking his turn to clean up and beginning to pick up the plates. Once he was gone, Sokka looked around the table. It was quiet for a moment before he spoke.</p><p>“...We could always just kill them.”</p><p>There was a clatter from the kitchen and simultaneously the whole table winced. Aang’s horrified face appeared next to the doorframe. “Sokka!”</p><p>“Wha-at?” Sokka cried, throwing his hands down onto the table. “They’re dangerous! Look at what the Blind Bandit did to me!”</p><p>“We can’t just kill people we don’t like, Sokka!”</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“Because it’s wrong!” Aang said incredulously, looking around the table. When nobody jumped to his defense just yet he elaborated. “They could have killed us, but they haven’t. Besides, if Sokka’s theory is true and it’s The Comet, by getting rid of those two we just end up with three even stronger moonshiners after us. We can’t risk it.”</p><p>That defense earned him agreeable nods from the girls. Sokka was more hesitant, but he too came around. “...Okay, original plan, got it. Time to tighten our defenses.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Turns out that ‘tightening their defenses’ was an ordeal that took longer than Sokka had anticipated. When the time came around to finally, <em> really </em> get in on the action, he was even healed enough to come along. Katara and Aang would be accompanying the vehicle after the next; Suki and Sokka had first dibs.</p><p>The driver was someone Sokka had seen before but not really talked to. He didn’t even know the guy’s name, but that was no reason to not be friendly, right?</p><p>After a few brushed off attempts at conversation he ended up grumpy and silent in the back seat. </p><p>Brooding and staring out the window was not as exciting as it was made out to be. He was on the opposite side of the car from Suki, situated behind the driver. An unfortunate play for his sense of smell, but he had to watch that side of the road. She had the other.</p><p>The ride was uneventful up until the moment they hit woodland. A car came squealing around the corner, headlights all but blinding them. Sokka had been anticipating a flank attack, or maybe if they were lucky nothing at all. Not their hunters risking their safety by pulling around in front of them right by a curve.</p><p>Thankfully Suki and their driver were more prepared. The man up front deftly pulled a maneuver that Sokka couldn’t quite see involving the clutch and the handbrake. The car began to slide, but soon they were turning into the drift. There was no time to celebrate their skidding U-turn before they were flying down the road again and the car behind them gave chase.</p><p>Sokka clutched his hand over his mouth and stomach, swallowing down bile from the jerky turn. Suki was significantly more well-adjusted, hanging half-out the window and firing behind them.</p><p>The window’s hand crank was not wanting to cooperate, but Sokka was too stubborn to surrender. By the time he got the window down Suki was having to duck back in. She’d emptied the barrel of her revolver with no luck in stopping or slowing the car. He swung himself out at the same time as she did the opposite, resulting in one fluid movement and a constant rain of gunfire for their pursuers.</p><p>Sokka hugged close to the side of the vehicle, the windwildly whipping at his flyaway hairs. Suddenly a girl ducked out of the window of the car behind them and the air was filled with the rata-tat-tat of a tommy gun firing.</p><p>
  <em> Oh, shit. They have tommy guns. </em>
</p><p>Thankfully it was the Blind Bandit shooting at them. She must have been relying on sound as the bullets struck trees, the ground their car just flew over, and not Sokka. He was thankful he was the one hanging out of the buggy when a bullet shattered the passenger side rearview mirror.</p><p>Refusing to think about the implications that would have had for Suki, Sokka swallowed and forced his shaky hands to be still. He had exactly one bullet left before he’d have to reload.</p><p>He raised his arm and fired.</p><p>It shattered the windshield. The bullet must have hit something because then the car was swerving and suddenly stopping in the middle of the road. He screws his eyes shut and ducks back inside, panting.</p><p>They make it back without a hitch plus a totally safe load of supplies and liquor for the first time in who knows how long. Later, when they were all celebrating, Sokka couldn’t help but think that tonight’s rum tasted like metal.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i’m currently writing chapter six, so i might just go ahead and post chapter five tonight instead of tomorrow since it’s heavy + very closely related to this chapter<br/>let me know what you all think! ur guys’ comments literally give me life</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. .22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>tw for graphic depictions of violence and injury. gets a little gorey in this one folks</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Another night, another chase.</p><p>That’s what Zuko kept telling himself. He and Toph had gotten paired up and shoved in a car too many times to count, and though he usually ended up more or less fine that didn’t mean he had to like it.</p><p>Zuko and Toph always made quick work sweeping their competition’s stills out from under them, of putting their drivers out and interrupting their supply line. That’s why one would <em> think </em> others wouldn’t be so eager to contend anymore. Emphasis on the think.</p><p>It was getting real tiring, going out almost every damn night. Once upon a time Zuko and Toph had been able to scare off their opponents to the point where it was hard to keep them busy. That was the way he liked it, going out once in a blue moon to remind Ba Sing Se who was boss.</p><p>And hell, did Zuko hate driving.</p><p>It was something that took all of his concentration and both of his hands, and with only one eye between the pair, crashing was a very real risk. His Blue Spirit mask- which he usually wore any time he had a mission that required going into the city- blocked too much of his vision to wear it while in the car. Zuko relied on a bandanna pulled up over his nose to hide his face, but tonight he couldn’t have even that. Azula had decided that she needed it more than him.</p><p>The ride out of the city was quiet, even with Toph in his passenger seat. Azula had given them tapped information as to what route their opponents would be taking, sending them off with a pat on the back and a snarky comment and not much else. Their job was to intercept the driver as he came into Ba Sing Se, knock him out, and kick him out of his own car so they could take the supplies to The Comet instead. </p><p>It was Zuko’s full intention to stop off to the side of the road and wait for them, an ambush attack. The timing was pleasantly coincidental when he rounded a curve and saw their target a ways down the road and coming towards them.</p><p>He slammed on the brake and Toph yelped, getting thrown forward and hitting the front of the car. “What the <em> fuck</em>!”</p><p>“They’re ahead of schedule and coming at us!”</p><p>“So you <em> stopped?!”</em></p><p><em>“Yes!”</em> Zuko’s throat was already starting to scratch from all the yelling. “We’re in the middle of the road, they’ve gotta stop!”</p><p>Toph was pressed as far back into the seat as she could get, hands braced against the spot she’d slammed against just moments ago.</p><p>Zuko’s eyes were fixed on the road ahead. The car, instead of slowing, expertly drifted in the middle of the road and shot off again in the other direction. The air gained the smell of burnt rubber.</p><p>“Shit!” He shouted, pressing down on the gas and taking off after them. Toph was thankfully more prepared for a jerky ride this time.</p><p>“What are we <em> doing?”</em> She snapped, face turning up in a look of wild anger and confusion. Zuko gritted his teeth.</p><p>“Chasing them!”</p><p>“I thought you said they’d stop!”</p><p>“I was wrong!”</p><p>Ahead of them, a girl popped out of the window, a revolver aimed for them. Zuko did his best to stay on the road while zig-zagging. The drive was straight and would be for a bit, without swerving they would be sitting turtleducks.</p><p>Toph, fortified so as to keep herself from getting tossed forward or backwards but not sideways, cursed when she hit the door and was then thrown immediately into the center console. “Sparky!”</p><p>“I know, I’m sorry! We’re about to get shot at!”</p><p>Zuko bit down a yelp when bangs filled the air. Thankfully it was a revolver and whoever was firing at them was not very good both at aim or with self control. The barrel was empty in a matter of seconds and their car was still in one piece.</p><p>“You’ve got a break, get the tommy gun! Go!” </p><p>Toph barely managed to stay in the front of the car while she felt around in the back for the gun. Her hands came upon cold metal and she pulled back. Her hand found the trigger with a precision Zuko had come to expect. </p><p>A second figure appeared from the car they were chasing. Zuko vaguely recognized him as the boomerang boy from a few nights prior. If he wasn’t about to get shot at again, maybe he would have dwelled on this little bit of information more.</p><p>Boomerang Boy had more self control than the last marksman. Only one shot sounded before Toph was out and firing herself. The pulsing bang of her rapid fire filled the air. </p><p>Unfortunately she was aiming in the general location where the last person had been, which meant until more shots came from the guy she wouldn’t be hitting anything. </p><p>Four more consecutive bangs from the car ahead of them, all misses. Zuko held his breath while Toph swung to her left.</p><p>There was only a small window of time before she would be shooting in the right place. In that moment, Boomerang Boy must have come to a decision, because there was a final pop followed up immediately by the cracking of the windshield and a searing pain in Zuko’s chest.</p><p>He couldn’t help it. The pain just below his right shoulder made his arm jerk and the car swerved. Toph just about fell out of the car, only barely managing to stiffen her body in an L-shape so she would catch on the window from the waist down. The tommy gun clattered down and off the side of the road. Thankfully the car screamed to a halt before Zuko earned himself a premature second date with the forest.</p><p>“What happened!” Toph screamed, for probably the millionth time that night, as she scrabbled back into the safety of the car with her chest heaving. Zuko pressed his palm into the wound and nearly threw up when his hand came back sticky and red.</p><p>“I’ve been shot,” He said quietly, voice somewhere between a gasp and a wheeze. If he was dizzy from the convulsive drive before, his head was definitely spinning now.</p><p>Toph, praise the spirits, didn’t ask any more questions before she jumped into action. She quickly undid her vest and used that as a buffer between her hands and Zuko as she felt around for the wound. Once he guided her hands to the right spot she applied pressure.</p><p>It took all of his willpower not to shove her off, instead settling for a roar of pain. At least she wasn’t using her bare hands. He knew very well of the thin layer of dust and dirt coating them at all times and was less than interested in that.</p><p>“Breathe, Sparky, it’s okay.” Toph huffed. Zuko hadn’t even realized he was holding his breath. As he let out a rattling puff of air, she snatched her coat out from its place on the back seat. “Sit up. Think you can drive back?”</p><p>Agni, what an awful thought. Not like he had any choice though- and if he waited too long the adrenaline would wear off and he probably wouldn’t be able to.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Toph tied her coat tightly around his torso, securing the vest in place and making for a makeshift bandage. They had nothing else. Doing his best to fight off dizziness, Zuko muttered a ‘hold on’ and sharply backed out to begin back to The Comet.</p><p>Very quickly Zuko decided that this was the worst drive of his life and he wanted to be done with it already. It was just as terrible as he had expected, and considering he was coming into the city as fast as he was physically able to he got beeped at by the few people still out. </p><p>Fuck. For a pea shooter, that thing had <em> bite</em>.</p><p>The stop in the back of Sozin’s Comet was just as jarring as the rest of the ride. Zuko threw open the door and tumbled out, promptly getting sick off to the side of the pavement. Before he was even able to right himself again Toph weaseled herself under Zuko’s arm and all but dragged him to the back door.</p><p>Instead of using Zuko’s key, like a normal person, she grabbed the metal lock. It withered in her hands and she shoved the door open.</p><p>The door led them into the little lounge that doubled as the speakeasy’s entrance. Toph kicked it shut behind her and dropped Zuko on one of the chairs. He sat there in a daze while she shoved the bookshelf back and banged on the door. “<em>Let us in! Man shot</em><em>!”</em></p><p>He noticed as the door cracked open that Toph hadn’t used his name. Even though her voice and tone were distinctive, if the fact that it was Zuko was brought into the mix the guard behind the door would probably bother to badger her for the password.</p><p>He didn’t have the luxury of sulking about that before he was being lifted up and carried into the speakeasy. The guard scowled but simply muttered “Be more careful next time, you’ll scare the guests,” and left it at that.</p><p>Zuko’s vision was really getting cloudy now. He didn’t come to the realization that he was getting laid down on the floor behind the bar until there were four faces peering down at him and talking amongst themselves. Without his bandanna, and with what felt like .22 in his lung, he was resigned to cough crimson into his palm.</p><p>That spurred the faces above him into action. He recognized the voice that began spitting orders as belonging to Azula. “Toph, go fetch the doctor. His number is written on the bottom of the phone line, he’s on father’s payroll and won’t ask questions. Ty Lee, go get some old towels. Mai, you stay with him. I’m going to get bandages from the back.”</p><p>One by one the faces disappeared.</p><p>“Hello,” He started when he was alone with Mai, looking up into her scowling face.</p><p>“You’re an idiot.” She answered.</p><p>Zuko just hummed, distracted from the pain by her fingers threading through his hair. Then he was being lifted up, one towel placed beneath him and another bunched up supporting his head. </p><p>He got a good look at himself when his shirt got peeled off by hands that weren’t his own. The entry wound itself was small, but judging by the placement and amount of blood he was more fucked than the adrenaline would let him believe.</p><p>The doctor produced a curved needle and a pair of tweezers. The sight made Zuko thrash. He knew what was coming and suddenly he was like a dog at the vet.</p><p>Firm hands came to pin down either of his arms and Zuko let out a low, mournful sound as the doctor began threading the needle. He turned his face upwards to fix on Toph so he wouldn’t have to watch.</p><p>His flailing began again when he felt the burn of alcohol on his wound. As he was being held down this time the doctor just kept working, rinsing off the area and patiently cleaning at the wound.</p><p>Right when Zuko wore himself out, a pain worse than the bullet seared through him. He was kept from jolting by another pair of hands on his chest, and then he was biting down on a rag that appeared in his mouth.</p><p>“Shut up, dad’ll be pissed if you bleed all over his floor <em> and </em> scare off his business.”</p><p>Zuko blinked drowsily and moved his head to look at Azula. She stared at him for a long moment. She looked disapproving, of course, but he let himself hope that there was concern in her gaze too.</p><p>Everything hurt, especially the doctor fiddling around in his insides in an attempt to remove the bullet. Zuko was in a brutal fight with himself to not pass out. He’s weathered equally bad, if not worse, things before. This should be fine.</p><p>Then why did it hurt so bad?</p><p>He groaned against the cloth as the medic finally got out the bullet. “Sorry, buddy.” The other started. Zuko didn’t think he sounded particularly apologetic. “After that party of muscle had their problems last week, I’m out of anything to stop the pain. Those guys were built like tanks, it took enough to get them to stop screaming that I probably could have downed a herd of elephants.”</p><p>Zuko didn’t laugh. He barely even heard the guy.</p><p>The doctor continued on anyway, toweling off his hands. “The only sedatives I have would have thinned your blood out, so I’d prefer we stray from that unless necessary. It didn’t strike anything vital. Stopped just before your lung- thank your ribs for that- but the shockwave of the bullet probably bruised it. Hold still for just a bit longer.”</p><p>Then the needle was out again. At the sight of it, Zuko’s vision went black.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i am absolutely not a doctor, don’t take this as medically accurate information. still, i tried my best with the prior knowledge i had</p><p>anyways! now we know the consequence of last chapter. let me know your thoughts and comments down below! even if i don’t answer, i read them all and they fill me with joy</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Detour</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>some non-zuko related shenanigans for sokka in this one! tw for drinking (though the culprits are not underaged here)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka spent the next few days terribly guilty.</p><p>What if he had killed a man, the Blue Spirit of all people? With a goddamn <em> pea shooter! </em> Over <em> alcohol! </em></p><p>Sure, he had suggested it at first, but it was seeming more and more like that was part of his reality now and he decided that he was no longer okay with it. Even if his chest was still marred with ugly shades of purple and green, nobody should deserve to <em> die </em> over that. </p><p>Daytime was busy enough that there was no thinking about it. There were the animals and the crops to worry about and tend to. But with the recent lull in competition, Sokka’s nights usually spent handling things like burnt stills were now occupied with thoughts of the person who maybe-died at his hand.</p><p>He didn’t even know the Blue Spirit. He’d never seen their face. Hell, he’d seen the Blind Bandit’s face, but nobody in the whole city knew who she was. She was an enigma, plain and simple. As was her partner in crime.</p><p>What if they’d died alone in a car with nobody but the Blind Bandit to remember them?</p><p>Suki must have picked up on the fact that Sokka’s jokes stopped after sunset, as after only two nights of this he heard her creeping into his room.</p><p>“Suki?” He asked, peeking out from under his thin blankets to look at her. “What’re you doing in here?”</p><p>“I came to speak to you.” Gracefully she swept across the room and dropped to sit at the foot of his bed. Her bobbed haircut and skirt both swished with the movement. “You seem off.”</p><p>“I don’t know what you mean. I’m chipper as always!”</p><p>“The only thing between you and Katara coming in here to play mother hen is me, so I suggest you talk.”</p><p>Suddenly Sokka was very eager to share. He sat up and leaned against the headboard. “It’s just- What if I killed the Blue Spirit? What if they’re dead because of me, and now that mystery trio will come after us?”</p><p>It was quiet for a moment. Then Suki laughed.</p><p>It was a sharp and sudden sound that startled Sokka. He felt his face flush as she began laughing harder. “What? It’s a possibility!”</p><p>“You think you killed the <em> Blue Spirit </em> with that thing?” Suki motioned to Sokka’s holster. It was small, made to be discreet. For close quarter emergencies, not intended for a car chase and shootout. He had his boomerang, dagger and club to be used the rest of the time, and he’d been taught to load and shoot a rifle in case they got raided. </p><p>Suddenly he was glad he hadn’t been more prepared for the other night. If his last gun didn’t kill the Blue Spirit, buckshot sure would.</p><p>“Maybe I did, we don’t know!”</p><p>“Listen, Sokka.” Suki’s tone was suddenly more gentle, and he felt himself being comforted by his friend. She continued before Sokka could interrupt. “That was quite a range for a gun that small, going through a windshield. It’d have to go through that mask too if it was to kill anyone, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but looks to be wood and doesn’t exactly seem lightweight.”</p><p>Okay, that did Sokka feel a little bit better. “But- I still shot someone.”</p><p>“You’ve done it before and not been this beaten up about it. What makes this time different?”</p><p>“I don’t know!” Sokka exclaimed, pushing back the strands of hair that had fallen out of his wolf’s tail while under the covers. “It’s just- it feels like they’ve been going out of their way to <em> not </em> kill us. They’ve had plenty of opportunities, haven’t you noticed? And this is how I repay them! What if everyone’s in danger now? I should have shot at the tire, given them a flat, then maybe-“</p><p>“Sokka.” Suki’s commanding tone hushed him up. At the wobbly doe eyes she was given, she sighed. “I’m sure whoever it is, they’re absolutely fine. You’re going to have to fire a gun in order to not lose your own skin doing what we’re doing. You can’t afford to get cold feet now.”</p><p>“I know.”</p><p>Sokka sighed. Usually his room was just a place to sleep, somewhere he spent six to eight hours unconscious and nothing else. Lately he’d been pacing and rooting around more, and the unusual mess was beginning to bug him. It was either look at that, Suki, or the ceiling, so he tilted his head back and stared blankly upwards. “I just hope I did the right thing.”</p><p>“You did.” She confirmed, before a smile creeped over her face. “Hey, Sokka?”</p><p>“Mmf?”</p><p>“You and me, little walk through the woods. Late-night adventures are good for the soul.”</p><p>“You had me at ‘walk’.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>They ended up crashing a wedding.</p><p>Okay, the story didn’t start there, but it might as well have. </p><p>They told Aang and Katara they were going out for their walk and took off. One thing led to another, a little detour, a stolen drink or two there, and before they knew it Suki and Sokka were in the middle of their forest giggling with the moon high in the sky. Both were already tipsy, but things spiraled when Sokka realized their location and gasped.</p><p>“Suki! Guess what?”</p><p>“Hmm?” She was laying on her back in the moss, grinning up at the sky. It was a pleasant little clearing they were nestled in, dotted with mushrooms and carpeted with soft grass. Rocks were nestled against the treeline like this place was very deliberately formed.</p><p>Sokka crawled onto her, straddling her waist so he could lean down low over his friend. “I <em> totally </em> got shine stashed here.”</p><p>Suki shoved him off and sat up. Normally Sokka would have acted affronted, but he was too excited and the ground was plenty soft anyways. He could deal with a grass itch fine when his mind was inhibited. </p><p>“Where? And <em> why?” </em></p><p>Sokka shrugged. “Funsies,” He smirked and rolled to his side so he could get to his knees. From there he shuffled over to a log framing the edge of the little glade and stuck his hand in. He paid no mind to the rotting wood that uncomfortably touched his hand and produced a large container with some sort of paper crumpled around it to keep dirt and the like from sticking to it.</p><p>Suki watched as he tossed aside the paper and revealed a decently large glass jar filled near to the brim with clear liquid. “Why’m I not surprised?”</p><p>“‘Cus you stash stuff in the forest too. We all do.”</p><p>“Not alcohol.”</p><p>“What’s the point of being a rumrunner if I can’t reap the rewards?”</p><p>“Being able to simultaneously commit crime and make a profit?”</p><p>“Touché.” Sokka unscrewed the lid and tossed it aside, taking a swig. He felt the burn going down his throat, but by now he was practiced enough that he didn’t wildly screw his face up and start spluttering like the first time. Plus, considering he made it, he could brew it to his liking.</p><p>The feeling settled in his chest and made him feel almost light-headed. He passed the jar to Suki and wiped at the side of his mouth. “Here.”</p><p>“Seems like not the smartest to drink this when we could sell it.” Suki teased and took a drink anyway. </p><p>They both slipped into a familiar pattern of talking and joking easily amongst themselves, quickly losing track of time and how much they were drinking. Sokka woke up with the sun in his eyes and a killer headache, promptly rolling over and getting sick behind a bush.</p><p>“Hello, Little Miss Sunshine.” Suki greeted from behind him. Sokka groaned.</p><p>He really didn’t understand her ability to wake up after a night full of drinking like nothing happened, not showing the signs of whatever hangover she may be nursing. Screw being jealous of bending, he was jealous of <em> that. </em></p><p>He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the distant revving of an engine.</p><p>That was odd. The sound made his head pound, but the more pressing matter was the fact that it definitely hadn’t been one of their cars. They used old, beat-up things that had been modified and souped up to go faster than they should, and whatever that was had sounded new. Nevermind the fact that this was <em> Sokka’s </em> woods and they were too far away from any of their usual trails for it to be friend over foe.</p><p>Suki and Sokka nodded at each other and slunk off in the direction of the sound. </p><p>It didn’t take long before they were peeking through the brush at quite the scene. A copper container was sat up on a crate with a curled pipe siphoning what had to be moonshine into a wooden barrel. There was a shiny new car, and up on its roof one man was perched guffawing at a woman standing in the back unloading a box. On the ground leaned against the car was another man, gagged and tied, shivering like a rabbit about to be stewed for dinner.</p><p>Sokka was furious. He knew a still when he saw one, and this was in their woods of all places.</p><p>Suki’s hand stopped him from storming forward and he stopped, looking at her. She motioned for him to wait before disappearing back the way she had come.</p><p>She returned with the mostly emptied glass of moonshine and the paper. Sokka watched as she stuck the paper in the bottle, lit a match, and held the flame to the paper before she then threw it.</p><p>At first nothing happened and he convinced himself that because Suki used paper instead of a rag soaked in flammable liquid, her little molotov cocktail would fail. Instead the flames caught all at once, blowing up the flammable barrel containing the even more flammable moonshine.</p><p>Ah, it smelled terrible. But it was <em> wonderful. </em></p><p>The man and woman screamed as their still combusted, both darting over in an attempt to stomp it out. While they were distracted, Suki and Sokka made a wide arc around them and to the car.</p><p>The poor guy tied up there looked scared half to death of them, but when Suki hauled him behind a tree and began undoing his gag while Sokka cut at his bonds he stopped trembling so bad.</p><p>Just as the other was cut free, the woman cried out. <em> “Damnit, Lee’s gone!” </em></p><p>The captive- Lee, he must be- took off like a bat out of hell. Sokka and Suki came to the silent agreement that they too should run and bounded off further into the woods.</p><p>A man’s voice bellowed behind them; “There! Some bastards cut ‘im free, gettem!”</p><p>Spirits, the sound of that grating voice made Sokka want to throw up again. His killer hangover was no help, but he pushed on anyways.</p><p>The woman from earlier was nimble enough to start gaining on a stumbling Sokka, and he realized with a start that he had no clue where Suki was. At least, not until she swung from a tree branch and dropped down onto the woman, bowling her over and taking off again with barely a second's hesitation.</p><p>That was one of them out, but they still had the man to worry about. Suki caught up to Sokka just as a bullet hit a tree beside them and sprayed bark. He screwed his eyes shut when some got in his eye and just blindly scrambled after the sound of Suki’s sure strides through the brush.</p><p>Suddenly Sokka didn’t feel the resistance of bushes and thorns pulling at him painfully. It was a short-lived victory before he ran headfirst into Suki’s back. </p><p>Rubbing the bark from his eyes, Sokka looked up to see rows of people staring back at them, horrified. The most aghast out of everyone were the three people at the front, standing on a makeshift platform- an older man holding a book in the middle and two women in beautiful white dresses holding hands on either side of him.</p><p><em> ‘Oh, fun, a wedding!’ </em> Sokka thought just as Suki started tugging him away.</p><p>She wasn’t fast enough, though; Sokka shouted an “I object!!” right as he went crashing backwards into the treeline.</p><p>(And, sure, they looked terrible. Branches everywhere, cuts on their faces and limbs from the foliage, messy hair after waking up maximum thirty minutes ago, et cetera. But just as Suki and Sokka disappeared once more and the wedding began to resume, a bloodthirsty man with red-rimmed eyes and somehow more scratches came bursting through the tree line after them brandishing a rifle. He froze like a deer in the headlights just like the two before him had, took off his hat, and backed up the way he came with his head bowed in defeat.)</p><p>Suki and Sokka didn’t stop until they realized they were no longer being pursued, panting and grinning at each other with the thrill of it all. After complaining enough, he got Suki to give him a piggyback ride through the woods back to the farm.</p><p>Katara was waiting for them at the door and immediately pulled Sokka into a tight embrace once he was close enough. “I was worried! Where were you, it’s almost lunch!”</p><p>Sokka leaned back and grinned at his sister, a hand on her shoulders. “I’ve got the <em> best </em> story to tell you all at the table.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>some fun to lighten the mood after that ending last time hehe,, if anyone is interested i’m considering making a sideblog on tumblr for atla where i can talk about this au 👀 </p><p>comments + kudos infinitely appreciated, let me know what you think !!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Feather</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Zuko’s life had dropped to comfortably uneventful ever since his mishap outside of the city.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wondered why he couldn’t just get shot more often if this was what it entailed. Sure his chest constantly hurt, breathing itself was a pain and he wasn’t supposed to move his right arm, but on the bright side: No more Comet missions for him. He had been temporarily retired from the position until he was fit to drive again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was much more pleasant than what had become his normal. He still kept up his day job at The Jasmine Dragon- he couldn’t hide his injury so Iroh was hesitant to let him work, but he told his uncle it had been a training mishap and someone just got a little stabby. There was no deterring a stubborn Zuko so Iroh just kept him confined to the lesser work and left it at that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Due to this, day time kept him occupied so his mind wasn’t melting trapped in his room. When the sun began to set he stretched and read for a bit before going to bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had forgotten how nice a full night’s sleep was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And, sure, maybe it wasn’t good that he was happier coping with a bullet wound than going to work, but c’est la vie. Toph came by and visited him daily so he still got up to plenty. It was just that now his hijinks didn’t involve risking his life and </span>
  <em>
    <span>best of all, there was no driving.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No driving meant no shooting, which meant Toph could treat herself to a drink now and again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Open this.” She demanded, throwing her arm out and hitting Zuko in the chest with a bottle of scotch. He let out a low, drawn-out sound of pain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zuko stepped back and winced. She had hit him in the middle of his chest and his injury had only barely hit his right side, but the ring of bruising and the freshness of the wound meant that he definitely still felt it. “After that, I don’t think I will.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on, Sparky. My bottle opener’s with Tiro and she’s in jail.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why does Tiro have your bottle opener?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You ask too many questions.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zuko huffed and took the bottle, popping it open and passing it back to Toph. “You’re too young to drink.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Only nineteen. I wouldn’t even be allowed to if I was old enough.” She took a swig of the bottle without offering any to Zuko. She knew he’d deny it even if it wasn’t filled with her backwash. Zuko might provide alcohol, but he wasn’t much interested in it himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Psh, whatever.” He answered, tossing his hair out of his eyes. It was nice, being allowed to just exist in his room with Toph around. She was much better at the younger sister thing than Azula was, anyways. Less sociopathic tendencies.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They sat in comfortable silence for quite a while until Toph deemed the past few days too uneventful and whacked the table with her palm. “We should go do something fun.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your definition of ‘fun’ is a little past my physical capabilities right now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, come on lazy-bones.” Toph grabbed him by his good ear and dragged him along like a scolded child despite his protests. “You need to get out at </span>
  <em>
    <span>some</span>
  </em>
  <span> point before your dad hauls you back in to work. I got just the thing.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zuko was pleasantly surprised when all Toph asked of him was to sit there near her and hang out while she played around in the dirt and erected tiny statues of herself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A single strand of downy feather caught his attention, drifting through the breeze. Zuko snatched it out of the air and stared at it for a second.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And, okay. Toph letting herself play and act young near him always prompted him to do the same. His childhood was snatched from him, it was his right for a little harmless fun now and again to make up for it even if he was supposed to be an adult.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zuko put the fluffy little feather beneath his nose and stuck his lips out to make it stay. Leaning over, he looked at his reflection in the puddle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He must have stared for a long time, making faces at his reflection in the water and wondering if he would ever try to grow any sort of facial hair, because eventually Toph pegged him in the back of the head with a mud ball.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zuko canted forward and nearly fell, the feather fluttering down into the puddle he’d been staring at. The only thing that kept him from getting mud on his face as well as the back of his head was the way he caught himself with his left arm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, you’ll pay for that,” He threatened, grinning impishly as he shook the mud off of his hand. Toph responded by flinging another mud ball. This time Zuko was prepared.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His fist came forward, flames springing forward and lapping hungrily as in a flash they grew, drying the mud as it came at him and making it dissolve to earth that then dissipated. Toph had the audacity to look </span>
  <em>
    <span>affronted</span>
  </em>
  <span> that Zuko had defended himself and dropped to the ground, sinking her hands into the earth to grab two more fistfuls. While she was down, he got his revenge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The mudball got her right in the side. She didn’t fall but instead yelled melodramatically, rising to her feet and running at him with two muddy hands and a blood-curdling war cry. Zuko’s excited expression dropped as he turned tail and ran from the little gremlin screaming and chasing after him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d ran from Toph plenty of times over the years. By now he knew exactly how to get away; sure, sometimes he didn’t execute the escape right and was caught, but that was his fault and not the plan’s. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He threw himself towards the trunk of a particularly climbable looking oak, extending the arm that still had the full range of motion and easily grasping a branch. He pulled himself up, and just as he started to reach up and grab the next in what was supposed to be a smooth succession of motion he remembered his predicament.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The movement pulled at the wound and he jerked his arm back down with a hiss. The falter concluded with Zuko on his back in the mud, thankfully not having fallen far- only the length of his jump combined with his height plus a raised arm. He looked up into the eyes of an evilly chuckling Toph as she appeared over him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was no stopping her now that he’d been caught. He resigned himself to his fate of a face full of mud.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thankfully she only smeared earth on the unscarred parts of his face. Not that Zuko minded Toph touching the scar- a trust granted to her and her alone, excluding that one time where he’d been sick with Mai when they were younger- but this would take scrubbing to get clean tonight and he was never too keen on touching the leathery skin that was permanently colored angry shades of pink and red.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she had her fun, Zuko sat up. He looked a mess. He knew it, the world knew it, Toph knew it even if she was sensing him and not seeing him. He tried to scowl at her. Instead, he laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a rare sound, from him, or so the world thought. As with many things, Toph was the exception. She grinned and joined in with him and soon the pair of mud-coated bootleggers were crying with laughter under the light of the moon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zuko fell back into the mud with no mind to his clothes. It wasn’t like he could get them any more dirty. Toph flopped down beside him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“See, Sparky? This wasn’t so bad. Much better than going to bed at eight-thirty like a toddler.” She spoke when her laughter finally died down enough, turning her face towards him. Her gaze wasn’t quite on his eyes but it was meeting his face fine, only just off enough for a stranger to be able to notice. When Zuko huffed, the air beneath his nose sparked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eight-thirty as my bedtime is a luxury I’m happy to indulge in, thank you very much.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, well, this was worth it, wasn’t it?” Toph would usually slug him in the arm at this point, and he cringed when she raised her hand. Instead of punching him though she just mussed up his air and flicked him in the forehead. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That was a compromise he could work with. Turning his face to the sky, Zuko drew in a breath. He held it, waited a few seconds, then let it out in the practiced fashion he’d been taught. This time, instead of sparks on his breath when he breathed out, full-fledged flames came instead: warm, gentle, full of life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose it was,” He mused, and he found himself meaning it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before they left, Zuko reappeared at the puddle he’d amused himself at for so long upon first settling down here. The feather was still there. Picking it up, he tucked it into his pocket to bring home with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once back to his little apartment, Zuko scrubbed himself clean and then did the same for the feather. He toweled it dry and then approached his desk. Beneath the glass top was all sorts of memorabilia, ticket stubs and letters and the like all collaged together in a way that wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing but still made him happy to look at. He lifted up the glass, meticulously and strategically placed the feather on top of a card so that it didn’t cover any of the words, and then retired to his bed for the night.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He fell asleep with a wispy smile pulling at his lips.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yes that was an earthbending technique zuko used, yes that was toph’s influence</p>
<p>anyways! some fluff to make up for last time. and i made a tumblr! check it out/feel free to shoot me an ask! its @spiritbounties</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Gadabout</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>tw for knives and minor injury. it’s not graphic but it’s there</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Suki must have gotten through to Sokka, because in the days following their talk and excursion through the woods he stopped worrying so much about what had happened. He cleaned his room, put down his bottle, and went back to normal.</p>
<p>The past was in the past. No use dwelling on it now.</p>
<p>The only difference between now and what life was like before the chase was that things had gotten a little easier. They were nearing a week now with no trouble from The Comet.</p>
<p>Business was booming. As anticipated, they gained a few new patrons, and the new buyers meant it was time for the regular shopping trip. Suki was left at the farm to keep things in order while Katara, Aang, and Sokka set out.</p>
<p>Katara was behind the wheel, scowling at the road ahead while Sokka pestered her from the back seat. He was taking up the whole rear half of the car, sprawled out over the ruddy seats as he poked his sister repeatedly in the back of the head. Aang was in the seat beside her, twisted back to watch Sokka with stifled laughs.</p>
<p>“Okay!” Katara snapped, jerking the car in an attempt to get Sokka to stop. It worked, and after hitting his head against the window he was deterred. “We can go get lunch too while we’re out!”</p>
<p>“Yes!” Sokka cried victoriously, punching the roof of the car in celebration. Katara pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand.</p>
<p>The rest of the (rather long) drive to Ba Sing Se was filled with much less squabble. The conversation turned to a more amicable lull, the trio reminiscing on  their green days where it was just them with a shack in the woods and some bathtub gin. Everyone was happy to get out of the middle of nowhere and to the city. They’d check on their speakeasy later- though it was owned and managed by them, they were far enough out from the place that every night they had to choose between welcoming guests and watching their distilleries. As the latter was at more of a risk, that was where most of their time was spent.</p>
<p>That was why the three of them had bothered to put on their nicer clothes for what was surreptitiously disguised as only a shopping trip. They had a facade to put on; a mask that involved having to act wealthier than they were, considering that they were some of the most important leaders of organized crime in the city and they had a reputation to live up to.</p>
<p>Sokka personally didn’t mind wearing Sunday clothes on a Tuesday. It got him pleasant attention and on one or two occasions a date. </p>
<p>He did mind it, however, when he was loading crates of fruits and spices and other totally-not-for-shine ingredients like juniper. Wearing four layers and slacks on a summer afternoon was practically begging for a heat stroke.</p>
<p>His feet scrabbled for purchase on the cobblestone street as he tried to push a particularly heavy crate into the back of the truck. He felt a prick of pain in his finger, and after determining he had gotten himself a splinter from the wood he groaned.</p>
<p>“Can we <em> please </em> stop now?”</p>
<p>“Not until everything is loaded and ready to go. Then we need to go pick up more shells and some flour for the house. This place was out.” Aang peeked out from behind a basket of oranges.</p>
<p>Sokka grumbled quietly to himself about his chest hurting, which was definitely a lie. The bruising had gone away by now, but Aang didn’t know that. The other boy tutted. </p>
<p>Sokka expected Katara to call him on his fib, but when she didn’t, he finished tying down their load and turned to Aang. “Where’s Katara?”</p>
<p>Aang looked just as surprised as Sokka felt, pausing in his task to hop up on one of the vehicle’s tires and look around. “Uhh… Oh! There, she’s fine!”</p>
<p>While Aang was perched up where he was, he grabbed the cover and pulled it down over the crates. Sokka waited for him before they both trotted over to wherever Katara had wandered off to. Turns out she had settled down to watch an older man dressed in a simple yellow button-up and suspenders while he wove tales and waved his hat around for donations.</p>
<p>As Aang also immediately took to the man’s words, Sokka had no choice but to lean against an energy pole and listen as well.</p>
<p>“-Ah, but society didn’t like our anti-war mentality. The Great War scattered our people and thinned out our numbers. A shame, really. When Avatar Roku disappeared, he-“</p>
<p>Sokka smothered a groan. Anyone that spent more than two days in Ba Sing Se knew the story. The few airbenders that were left tended to utilize their circumstance, and though most disappeared into the mountains there was almost always one passing through the city that had a story to tell. The stories were pretty consistently ‘we believe Avatar Roku is dead and the avatar is out there, help us recuperate from the war and build our people so we can find the avatar among us’.</p>
<p>They never got much pity.</p>
<p>The end of the war brought a new era- flappers and swing and thompson submachine guns and speakeasies. Nobody cared to listen to any of the gadabouts preaching about an Avatar that society felt they no longer needed.</p>
<p>Avatar Roku had disappeared around the Entente Cordiale. Of course, things went to shit, war started, the people realized that there was no avatar to save them and ended it themselves. Sokka didn’t realize why <em> this </em> time Katara took an interest in the story, though. They’d all heard it plenty before.</p>
<p>Eventually Sokka got bored and grabbed her hand, nodding his head. She seemed to snap out of her reverie and got up to follow him. Aang stayed, but they decided to let him do his own thing while they went to th gun shop. It wasn’t like he would be much use there anyways.</p>
<p>“So, why’d you wander off for <em> that </em> fella?” Sokka finally asked, turning to look at her while he walked. “Everyone here’s heard that story a million times, you’re a local in a sea of tourists. You must’ve seen something.”</p>
<p>“I’m convinced he was lying. And that he works for The Comet, but I’m slightly less sure of that one.”</p>
<p>That was not what Sokka was expecting. His movements halted right alongside his mind and he stood gaping for a few moments before rushing to catch up. “How on <em> earth </em> could you possibly have come to that conclusion?”</p>
<p>“...You’re right, it’s probably nothing-“</p>
<p>Sokka caught her hand and pulled her back. Her eye had that intelligent glint she took on whenever her gut was telling her something. Katara’s intuition was rarely wrong.</p>
<p>“No, go on.”</p>
<p>“It’s just- I was bent over to pick up a box and when he lifted his arm, the sun caught something under his lapel. I think I only saw it because of where I was, because I couldn’t see it again even after I got closer.”</p>
<p>“Wait, wait. What’s that got to do with anything?”</p>
<p>“One of our drivers said he was talking to a few of the new people, the ones we scooped up from The Comet. Trying to act like just another patron and get some info. Rumor has it that some of the more <em> exclusive </em>Comet patrons wear a pin under their lapel. Lets ‘em get in without a codeword, cut lines, that kinda thing.”</p>
<p>Okay, this was useful information. ‘Borrow’ a pin-wearer, take the actual pin, and bam. They had a way into the speakeasy of their biggest competitor. There were a lot of hoops they’d have to get through if they wanted to do that, but it was a start.</p>
<p>“Okay, and the lying part?”</p>
<p>“That doesn’t matter as much, except maybe to Aang. He wasn’t hurting anyone out on that street corner. I don’t know if you were listening to him but he didn’t have that tone the Air Nomads usually have when they blow through here.”</p>
<p>Sokka nodded, and then they were in front of the gun store and that little conversation was over. The gunsmith gave them an odd look at the sheer volume of shells purchased but didn’t comment.</p>
<p>When they came back to the car, Aang was already there. He looked a little gloomy and had already gone off and gotten the flour on his own, so Sokka assumed he noticed the same thing Katara did regarding the old man’s honesty and loudly announced that it was lunch time.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>They ended up at a tea shop (and diner, but it was heavily advertised as a tea shop) that was comfortably nestled in the quieter part of the middle ring’s shopping district. As they were eating a little late it wasn’t very busy, thankfully.</p>
<p>There was a pleasant older man that came and plucked away their menus after taking their order, but Sokka wasn’t paying him any mind. Or <em> anyone </em> from their table, really. Across the room was someone that, like a few others before him, immediately caught Sokka’s eye. Shaggy black hair fell across his face, and even in the soft lighting of the tea shop the sharp glint of yellow eyes could be seen. He was sitting alone at a table with one hand flat on the wood, fingers splayed out. He had a knife in his other hand and was lazily stabbing the spaces in between.</p>
<p>Sokka figured he had a pretty good chance at impressing the boy if he slid over and challenged him to his own game. Honestly, it was a foolproof plan. He slipped out of the booth and slid to sit across from the other.</p>
<p>The boy looked up. The very prominent scar coloring the skin on the other side of his face was not to be expected. Sokka was intimately familiar with scars (okay, maybe not as much as this dude, but still) so it didn’t change his resolve any. </p>
<p>As soon as eye contact was made, the boy’s expression darkened and soured. He looked down and started stabbing the spaces between his fingers again with not even a ‘hello’ tossed Sokka’s way.</p>
<p>“Playing pinfinger?” The water tribesman asked anyway. “Mind if I join you?”</p>
<p>The boy looked up and huffed. Sokka squeaked when the knife was slammed down in front of him, embedding in the table. “Be my guest.”</p>
<p>And, okay. Sokka was a little nervous, but he figured if he was going to get stabbed it would have happened already. He gingerly took the knife and set his hand down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He used the slower pace that the boy had going before getting interrupted, increasing it just enough to be brag-worthy. He finished without nicking himself a single time and puffed his chest out. “There, beat that. Careful not to cut yourself.”</p>
<p>“Forgive me if I slip and stab you in the face.” The boy answered, voice dripping with faux innocence. He snatched the knife from where it’d been sat and then his hand was moving at a pace Sokka could barely comprehend.</p>
<p>The other ended up doing an extra round, which still managed to take less time than Sokka had, and came out of it with nar a nick. He tried not to gape.</p>
<p>Huffing stubbornly, he grabbed the knife back and tried to beat it. Immediately he cut his finger.</p>
<p>Sokka yowled and pulled his hand back, sticking the afflicted finger in his mouth with a whine.</p>
<p>“Ready to give up?” The other smirked. Sokka frowned and got ready to try again.</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>By the end of it, Sokka’s hands were all sliced up and the other still didn’t have a single cut. And the stupidly cute tea-shop dude had gotten cocky enough to <em> flourish the knife </em> and <em> still beat Sokka’s time! </em></p>
<p>He was upset, he was confused, and he was impressed.</p>
<p>“Can I get the name of the man who beat me?”</p>
<p>The other studied him. He didn’t look fond of Sokka at all. The opposite, actually, which he thought offputting since they’d known each other for maybe ten minutes and Sokka had indulged them in a knife game that he <em> clearly </em> let them win.</p>
<p>Eventually, though, Sokka got an answer.</p>
<p>“Zuko.”</p>
<p>“Maybe you can make me feel better about my loss by meeting me here again this time tomorrow? My hands are all cut up, but company will lift me right up.” Sokka gave Zuko his most hopeful, sweet little smile and stuck his hand out.</p>
<p>“Anybody stupid enough to- to disrespect me before a knife game deserves what he gets.” Zuko snapped, getting up and storming off into the back of the shop to leave Sokka with his hand hanging sadly in the air.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>“no i will not go on a date with you because you dishonored me (but really it’s because you shot me)”</p>
<p>come say hello on <a href="https://spiritbounties.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>! i’ll take drabble requests and such there<br/>comments + kudos very much appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Flivver</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Toph, as she sometimes did, was waiting outside the Jasmine Dragon for Zuko. She immediately noticed his foul mood and tilted her head. “What’s the matter with you?”</p><p>“I got challenged to a game of five finger filet by the guy who shot me. He’s an idiot. <em> And then </em> he asked me on a date.”</p><p>“Did you kick his ass and then say yes?”</p><p>“What? No!” Zuko flushed. “I mean yeah, I beat his ass. But I didn’t tell him yes to going out.”</p><p>“Why not? Use it to get into their speakeasy and destroy it from the inside.”</p><p>“That’s how Azula works, not me. That feels like cheating.”</p><p>“Whatever you say, Sparky.” Toph shrugged. They were quiet the rest of the way back to Sozin’s Comet.</p><p>Into the restaurant, down the stairs, around the winding setup of the bottom floor, a mumbled password, the slide of the bookshelf, and they were in. A long process just so they could get scolded by Ozai.</p><p>Speaking of the owner of the speakeasy, he was waiting for Toph and Zuko and looking none too happy to see either. The soft lighting of the speakeasy- which was usually warm and gentle and pleasant, all things considered- cast dark shadows on his angular face. Zuko swallowed and bowed before him.</p><p>“You broke my door.” Ozai addressed Toph. Zuko had conflicted feelings about being ignored, but he figured it wouldn’t last long.</p><p>Toph shrugged offhandedly. “It was an emergency.”</p><p>“Do it again, Beifong, and it comes out of your paycheck.”</p><p>Toph scowled but stood her ground. Ozai liked her more than Zuko, though- likely due to the resilience, skill, and confidence that Zuko just didn’t have himself- and left her at that.</p><p>Zuko averted his gaze when Ozai turned to him next.</p><p>“You’ve been off work for far too long. Show me you haven’t gotten soft, Zuko.”</p><p>“It’s been less than a week-“ Toph started to interject, but Ozai silenced her with a raised hand.</p><p>“Shush. You stumble in here acting half-dead after getting shot with a bullet shorter than my fingernail. You’re perfectly fit to go back to work by now, and if you continue to let an injury like that stop you I’m cutting you both loose. Go on now, do your jobs.”</p><p>And just like that, Ozai swept across the room and left.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Driving, predictably, hurt. The way Zuko had to raise his arm to reach the wheel pulled uncomfortably at his stitches. Well, unless the seat was pushed stupidly far forward, but then his knees just kept hitting things and he was at more of a risk of breaking his legs lest they crash. That was a very real possibility, so he just sucked it up and drove as he normally would.</p><p>The car creeped down the road, the paths of Ba Sing Se’s lower ring deserted due to the risk of being out at night. Lamplight slid in and out of the windows every time they passed a post.</p><p>It was here that Zuko found what they were looking for. A flivver sputtering happily down the road, the back bumper dented on the left side. That was the car that Azula had told him to look out for.</p><p>“Found them,” was the only warning Toph got before Zuko gassed it.</p><p>When the car realized Zuko and Toph were coming at them, they took off as well and disappeared around a corner. Zuko followed.</p><p>He was gaining on them, and fast. The Comet’s cars were nicer than any of their competitors (though admittedly far from lavish, as wrecks and shattered windshields were a constant) and when combined with Ozai’s tendency to bribe drag racers for their old vehicles… they had a rather formidable metal cavalry. Zuko slid over to the left side of the road once he got relatively close. He was more at risk of rear-ending the flivver than he was of getting run over by someone coming at him. Barely anyone was out, especially not in this part of town.</p><p>Toph, heeding a muttered warning thrown her way, hopped to sit on the center console and hold onto his neck.</p><p>And... okay. Maybe Zuko was a <em> little </em> angry about getting shot still, as evidenced by the cutthroat guerilla tactic he utilized next. He jerked the wheel to the right, side-swiping the flivver and sending them off the pavement. The car careened onto the sidewalk and hit a lamp post, impact crumpling the hood like tin foil.</p><p>A figure, dazed, threw open the driver’s door of the now-wrecked car while Zuko slammed on the brakes and yelled. “Third notch, right! About fifty feet out!”</p><p>That was why the pair favored this car specifically. Ozai gave them permission to carve nicks into the metal- some to the right door, some on the left. Toph knew just where they were. Her hand flew out to the third notch- which pointed her to the driver who had just collapsed out of the car- and with the motion, the cobblestone moved to trap him.</p><p>Zuko grabbed his mask and hopped out after Toph once he had strapped it to his face and pulled up his hood. The figure was still struggling.</p><p>Toph started to relieve their opponents of their supplies but Zuko got distracted. He recognized the driver.</p><p>It was the goddamn Boomerang Boy. The man who had shot him and then, blissfully unaware, asked him on a date. Sokka, was it? Zuko turned his nose up and went to help Toph.</p><p>“Wait! I’m sorry I shot you, don’t leave me here!” Sokka cried, flailing harder against his stone prison. Zuko ignored him.</p><p>He distantly noticed that the other boy’s hands weren’t so cut up anymore despite it only having been a few hours, but ah. He told himself that he didn’t care too much about that.</p><p>Zuko reached to take a crate from Toph, who shrugged him off and told him to go back to the car on the basis that he shouldn’t even be driving, nevermind carrying a heavy load. With a huff he went back and slid into his seat behind the wheel.</p><p>Toph hopped back in a few short moments later, bright and happy and all too pleased to ignore Sokka’s whines.</p><p>“You snooze, you lose!” She cried, roaring with laughter as Zuko revved the car’s engine and took off. They’d done this before- crashing their competitors’ cars to steal the contents inside. The difference was that, usually, they dissolved the stone trap as they escaped with their winnings.</p><p>This time, at risk of being shot, Toph left it up.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>please go check me on tumble @spiritbounties! ask me questions, ask for/about headcanons, etc! i’ll take drabble prompts too xx</p><p>as always, comments and kudos appreciated!! the former especially i love reading what yall got to say</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Swoop</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>claustrophobia warning. it absolutely does not go into detail but still someone’s trapped, stay safe!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka was having a bad day.</p><p>Sure, it started off all fine and dandy- he got a reprieve from their farm to dress up in nicer clothes and head into town, accompanied by tea and a meal and a cute boy. It was when he decided to talk to said cute boy, he decided, that everything went downhill.</p><p>Firstly, he totally embarrassed himself as soon as he’d got the knife in hand. Even Katara had the sense not to tease a terribly sulking Sokka while she healed up the nicks on his fingers. Then he got sent off on the most <em> boring </em> job. A wealthy affiliate had requested Katara’s company, who was supposed to be with <em> Sokka </em> on their rum run. She couldn’t say no, and Aang had his own obligations, so since things had been peaceful for a week it was decided that Sokka would be fine driving on his own.</p><p>He was not fine.</p><p>Damn the Blue Spirit and the Blind Bandit, always managing to sense right when things were least guarded and swooping in like a cat owl to scoop up what wasn’t theirs. By all means, it was unexpected. A handful of days was not long enough for anyone to recover from a bullet wound without a skilled healer, and judging by the stiff gait of the masked figure above him there was still plenty of pain in the equation.</p><p>“Wait! I’m sorry I shot you!” Sokka screeched, trying to wiggle his way out of the stone prison. He was flat on his stomach with his arms stretched out before him, elbows scraping painfully against the cobble as he tried again to achieve freedom. He was not dignified with a response.</p><p>Sokka was worried about whatever revenge they might have planned for him. Maybe they’d shoot him back, to show him what it was like. Or maybe they’d light his vehicle on fire and leave him helplessly stuck to the flames. Or-</p><p>Oh.</p><p>Sokka watched, hapless, as the pair hopped back into the vehicle. Okay, so revenge wasn’t on the menu. This, ironically, wasn’t the first time the Blind Bandit had left him quite literally stranded between a rock and a hard place, so without that concern in the way he waited to be set loose.</p><p>And waited.</p><p>And waited.</p><p>Sokka held onto the hope that, even as he was laughed at and abandoned, the rocks would eventually crumble and he would be freed. He wasn’t so lucky.</p><p>His struggle started again as he realized that he was well and truly stuck. Okay, so this was his punishment for shooting the Blue Spirit.</p><p>“Ha, ha, very funny guys.” Sokka spoke to the empty air. The orange glow of the streetlights felt mocking. “Learned my lesson. You can let me go now.”</p><p>Nothing changed. Not even the slightest groan of stone.</p><p>Sokka didn’t know how long he waited. Apparently he wasn’t worth mugging, as even the few street urchins and less than honest looking people that were out at this hour just drew on past him. He didn’t cry to <em> them </em> for help, he knew better and he was in no position to defend himself in case someone decided it would be fun to introduce a knife to his face.</p><p>Eventually footsteps came running in his direction. His heart soared when he heard Katara cry out. “Oh my god!”</p><p>“Finally!” Sokka yelled. Looking up at his sister was hard, but it was worth it to be able to see her get to work slicing through stone with her water. Hell yeah. He wanted to watch it crumble.</p><p>It took a long while, but finally he was freed. By the end of it the skin of his arms and joints were reddened and bloody. The stinging was soon culled by Katara and her wonderful, perfect healing abilities. Every day he got more and more thankful for that.</p><p>“What happened?” That was Aang, popping up from behind Katara. Sokka hadn’t even noticed he was here.</p><p>“The Blind Bandit.” He rubbed at his wrists and sighed, gesturing to the wrecked car. His company both winced. “Accompanied by, you guessed it, the Blue Spirit.”</p><p>“I thought he got shot? And I also thought The Comet didn’t have any waterbenders, nevermind ones that could heal.”</p><p>“They didn’t. The guy was definitely still hurt, don’t know what he was doing out already.” Sokka huffed. “It’s like he was asking to get shot again.”</p><p>“Sokka!” Katara whacked him across the cheek with her water before putting it back in its pouch upon her hip. “That’s a terrible thing to say.”</p><p>“I can’t believe you’re mad at me for saying that, right after you just saw what they did to me!”</p><p>“Guys!” Aang popped up between them, prompting a seething Sokka to turn away and cross his arms. “It’s over, okay? Is there anything in the car we should go get?”</p><p>“They stripped it of anything worth saving, so no.” Sokka frowned. He just wanted to go home and sulk. The sun was starting to rise, coloring the sky in a dark red. He didn’t even realize how tired he was until he noticed.</p><p>“Alright, let’s just get you home then.” Katara gently patted him on the back, and he offered her up a small smile. Things were a little less bad, suddenly, and now he had more news to theorize over with Suki.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Sitting on his bed, legs crossed and facing Suki, Solka was convinced that if they played the game right they could turn Ba Sing Se into <em> their </em> city.</p><p>The Blue Spirit was working again already, despite not being able to lift anything. Sokka had watched the pained, stiff way he moved. No way anybody would come back already unless they had to.</p><p>If they could just find out what was keeping the Blue Spirit tied to The Comet, sever that connection… Maybe they could even get him on their side. With him came the Blind Bandit- they were a package deal- and then maybe the six of them could take on the trio that he’d been so scared of just a few nights prior. He just had to talk to the Blue Spirit, which was easier said than done, but with a team of powerful moonshiners he figured it wasn’t impossible.</p><p>Oh, this was going to be good.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>check out my tumblr @spiritbounties! i’d appreciate it a lot and feel free to send me prompts or requests for headcanons!</p><p>as always, comments and kudos are the highlight of my day! looking through them make me so happy and they motivate me to continue, haha. sorry this chapter is shorter, but please lend me your speculations as to what the gaang’s plan is 👀</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Hazy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zuko had exactly one day to himself following his and Toph’s success at the lower ring. Having ‘proved he wasn’t going soft’, combined with the lull in competition lately, he had been granted a night of no rum running conveniently the same day he had off from the Jasmine Dragon.</p><p>As always, this meant he got dragged into one of Team Privelege’s excursions instead of actually getting the day to himself to rest.</p><p>Today’s venture was one of the less physically taxing, thankfully. No sneaking around town, breaking into abandoned buildings and robbing anyone dumb enough to let slip that they had cash stashed away somewhere. One wrong person caught word and it would wind up in Azula’s bread stash.</p><p>He’d downed painkillers as he was being dragged out the door. Not needing to be on high alert since they weren’t committing atrocities, he could afford the drowsiness that ensued.</p><p>Zuko and Toph sat up on the bank, watching their companions in the lake. Though there weren’t felonies, there were certainly more minor crimes occurring. Azula and Mai were in the water outside of the ring that visitors were supposed to stay in, holding a buoy as still as possible as Ty Lee tried to keep her balance. The fact that she’d managed to get on top of it at all was beyond Zuko, nevermind how she could <em> stand </em> on the thing. He’d tried it before; the slightest shift of weight and the buoy would jolt. That, combined with the fact that it was a smooth and slick surface, made it near impossible to stay on.</p><p>He was not at all surprised Ty Lee was the one to manage it.</p><p>“Why do we always end up next to the water?” Toph complained loudly, interrupting Zuko’s train of thought. A fair question, but not one he cared enough to think about.</p><p>“‘Cus Azula says.” He dismisses, and he recognizes the familiar huff in time to roll out of the way before Toph could swing a fist at him. He could not, however, escape the glob of mud launched at him.</p><p>“You know what? That’s it.” He threatened, grabbing Toph by the ankles and dragging her kicking and squealing into the lake. He knew better than to bring her very deep.</p><p>“Chicken!” She cried, kicking and clawing at Zuko in an attempt to scrabble on top of him. He was only about up to his knees in water, so even lowering himself down to a crouch didn’t do much to keep the wind from getting knocked out of him.</p><p>Her war cry had gotten the attention of Mai, Azula, and Ty Lee, the last of who dove off the buoy with a splash. Soon she was on Azula’s shoulders as they made their way nearer, a disinterested Mai playing referee.</p><p>And sure, Toph pulling at his stitches hurt like hell. But it was worth it to see the look on his little sister’s face when he situated the earthbender on his shoulders and ran screaming at her.</p><p>While Azula was a more powerful bender, Zuko was still her older brother- a fact that had her outmatched in terms of brute strength. That combined with Toph flailing her arms in the directions of Ty Lee’s squeals and Azula’s barked commands meant their opponents were bowled over fairly quickly.</p><p>Before they could regroup for a rematch, Zuko grabbed Toph by the wrist and hauled her out of the water. There they sat, kicked out on their beach towels like nothing had happened, when the rest of their little group joined them.</p><p>“You’re insufferable.” Azula seethed, and Zuko smiled.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. Zuko and Toph would hop into the water for brief intervals to roughhouse and cause problems before happily returning to settle on land. He was even dry by the time everyone was ready to leave, having been sat out in the hot sun as much as he had been.</p><p>That was the way he liked it, too. Less eventful.</p><p>Home was less fun and games. He had to clean out his shoulder wound (which was a <em> painful </em> affair, sand and grit had wormed its way beneath the bandages) and redress it. The voice in the back of his head sounded a lot like Iroh, warning him about infection. That was likely the only reason why he didn’t cut any corners in cleaning himself up.</p><p>The gauze was spotted with red again, but not enough for Zuko to worry. He just wiped his chest off, rebound the area, and flopped face first down into his creaky old bed. With every passing minute his already sluggish mind grew more hazy.</p><p>He fell asleep on top of the covers, in his swim trunks and with the lights on. Uncle Iroh poked in exactly once to offer him lunch but stopped, tucked in his nephew, turned off the lights, and gave him the next day off as well.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>as always, comments + kudos are greatly appreciated! especially now, writing’s been a little hard haha. catch me on tumblr @spiritbounties!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Decapitated</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka had not expected to be the mediator.</p><p>It was <em> his </em> plan, but of course he was still the one that had to take the actual risk. He had laid out his intentions, but right before he got to the actual roles of who-did-what, Katara had interjected.</p><p>“Okay. So Me and Sokka are going, right? When they hijack us, I’ll distract the Blind Bandit and lure her away. Sokka barters with the Blue Spirit. Ideally we chase them off, but the stuff we’re retrieving is a smaller load of some of our sub-par stock anyway so we’ll be fine without it. All hear?”</p><p>The whole table rang out in agreement. Sokka quietly seethed.</p><p>Little sisters. Always using you as bait, bah.</p><p>And sure, maybe it made more sense. The Blue Spirit was the non-bender, so of course Katara had come to that conclusion. But he’d figured that maybe she would be more… deft. She was better at bartering anyway, if a little tempered.</p><p>But noooo, Sokka had to disarm a master swordsman and then <em> negotiate </em> with him.</p><p>He had better luck with the earthbender who had left him to rot only two nights prior.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sokka was getting slammed into the car door.</p><p>The engine roared and revved as Katara pressed down on the gas. She always did have a lead foot.</p><p>Then he was sliding from the car door and into the center of the vehicle as Katara took another sharp turn.</p><p>“I can’t negotiate if you kill me!” Sokka cried, digging his hands into whatever he could reach. Katara didn’t seem near as concerned- actually rather thrilled to be the one driving in such a high speed chase.</p><p>Yeah, Sokka was going to die.</p><p>He didn’t even understand why she was trying so hard. They were supposed to get caught, damn it, not-</p><p>Oh.</p><p>They were going off the road.</p><p>Judging by Katara’s expression it was entirely intentional. It almost sounded like the car had a heartbeat, in a beautifully twisted way, as rocks beat up against the hood and undercarriage.</p><p>Thankfully they stopped before the vehicle hit a tree, which was easier said than done given the incline they’d been going down. Next thing Sokka knew he was grabbing his club and clambering out of the door.</p><p>He was still a little disoriented from their ride, but by the time they were found, he was ready.</p><p>It had only been a few moments of reprieve but it was enough to get him going when a column of earth spiked up out of the ground, clawing towards the sky and near slicing Katara. She avoided it and launched a snaking tendril of water forward to something Sokka couldn’t see. And then he was fighting his own battle.</p><p>He saw the glint of movement just in time to react, raising his club. His weapon lodged right in the cross of two swords, forming an ‘x’ just a foot or so from his face. An emotionless mask looked past Sokka’s gaze and into his soul.</p><p>Sokka pushed forward and the Blue Spirit, in turn, fell back. The unfortunate happenstance of bringing a club to a sword fight is that the Spirit, in their boundless agility, got the next strike.</p><p>Sokka again raised his club to deflect, metal glinting off bone. He twisted to hook the arch in his weapon on one of the Blue Spirit’s arms, yanking a downward pull. The weapon caught the hilt of one of the dao, and the sword <em> thwump</em>’ed down onto the forest floor.</p><p>That absolutely did not cause a lull in the fighting. If anything, the Blue Spirit fought harder, but there was a gap in his movements where he’d lost a limb. An unbalance that Sokka fully intended to take advantage of.</p><p>...But now he was still getting pushed back by his opponent, so maybe that was something he needed to fix. In a brief bout of teenage recklessness and stupidity, Sokka charged forward. He paid the price, and his arm burned with the slice just beneath his shoulder. His shirt warmed and wetted with blood, but Sokka wasn’t too worried about that- all things considered, it was just a graze, and his bravery (or stupidity) rewarded him. He was on top of the Blue Spirit, breathing heavily while they thrashed beneath him.</p><p>“I just wanna talk!” He cried out. The sword’s hilt whacked him painfully on more than one occasion while he was trying to catch that arm, but nothing more serious than future bruising. He pressed their arm into the grass, loose strands of hair falling from his wolf’s tail and dipping into his eyes. “About your employment at The Comet-“</p><p>The person under him twisted expertly and kicked their legs up, throwing Sokka off of them and sending him sprawling through the dirt and moss. As soon as he rolled onto his back to get up, he found himself grappling with a very angry bootlegger.</p><p>“Please!” Sokka yelped, his blows glinting off the mask and probably (definitely) hurting him more than his opponent. Still they fought. “I don’t want to hurt you!”</p><p>The shoulders of the masked figure jolted, like they were suppressing a laugh behind their mask. Then one of Sokka’s punches landed, and <em> hard.</em> </p><p>The Blue Spirit’s head snapped to the side. Any air of amusement dissipated, and Sokka was flung onto his stomach with his arm twisted painfully behind his back. He was well and truly stuck.</p><p>“Please,” He gasped anyways, trying his best to speak despite the weight on his chest and the awful way his own fist was being shoved into his spine. “Listen to me.”</p><p>When he didn’t immediately get decapitated, Sokka took that as a beckon to go on.</p><p>“I know you work for The Comet. And I know our business is brutal. But I don’t want to kill or maim anyone, really! And The Comet’s gotta be terrible. I mean, what I’ve heard from our patrons-“</p><p>The weight on the hand pinning Sokka’s arm down increased, pushing his knuckles into his own skin with bruising pressure. He yelped and stopped that train of thought, and then the hurt stopped.</p><p>“Okay, okay. But we want you to work for us. You two, with us- we can pay you whatever they pay!” Sokka knew full well it wasn’t much. “Us all together could have all of Ba Sing Se under our thumb!”</p><p>He strained to see the Spirit, but of course the mask was expressionless. Unyielding. Then, in a voice pitched down in such a way that was made to hide the true tamber (but still made Sokka shudder), the Spirit spoke.</p><p>“It isn’t that easy.”</p><p>There was a yell from further on down the way. Katara. Then Sokka was being hoisted into the air by the back of his shirt, only to be slammed down against the ground again. His vision went black.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>comments are really really appreciated, i’ve been burnt out from school so these are getting hard to churn out :’O check out my tumblr @spiritbounties!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>